St. Michael girls roll to 2-0 victory
St. Michael the Archangel scored a goal in each half and advanced to the second round of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s girls soccer playoffs for the seventh straight year.
Keely Senical scored in the 27th minute and Gabriella Rincon scored on a follow shot in the 135th minute as the 16th-seeded Warriors defeated the Academy of Our Lady-Marrero 2-0 in a Division II bidistrict playoff match played at the Burbank Soccer Complex Thursday night.
St. Michael (7-11-3) advances to a regional match at top-seeded Vandebilt Catholic in Houma next week. It will be a rematch of the 2008 state final won by VCHS. It was the first playoff berth in school history for The Academy of our Lady, which finishes 7-5-2.
St. Michael had 10 more shots on goal and outshot the Penguins 15-5 over. AOL goalkeeper Hunter Picard made several difficult saves to help lead her team.
“Our keeper played with heart,” Our Lady coach Jessica Tejada said. “St. Michael has a very skilled and well-equipped team.
“They came here hungry, played aggressively and had the homefield advantage. We know we can’t win a championship overnight. Making the playoffs was a big step for us.”
“Losing in the first round is not acceptable to us,” St. Michael coach Anthony Neeson said. “We played with pride. I told the girls at half that we needed another goal and they got the job done.”
Shortly before the second goal, Neeson subbed in junior Rincon for a corner kick play. The corner kick ended up at the foot of Maggie Thrower, who hit a hard shot off the post. However, Rincon crashed the goal and scored her second goal of the season.
“Gabriella is relatively new to soccer, but she’s our most aggressive player,” Neeson said. “I subbed her in because I know she’s willing to put her body on the line to try to score. She was in the right place at the right time and put the ball in the goal. We really needed that.”
St. Michael’s Brandi Martin, Holly Farrow, Ashley Rivet, Renee Jaynes and Thrower pressured the Penguin defense with a barrage of shots on goal.
Senical got the Warriors on the scoreboard with a 21-yard shot from the center in the 27th minute.
“The ball came to Keely Senical in the scrum, she took a touch in and played it to the near post,” Neeson said. “Their keeper got a hand on it. Like I tell them you never know what happens when you put it in the frame.”